Blankets with Crochet Borders

 Hello, I am expanding my blog to include other craft inspirations and projects my daughter and I make. She and I both love trying new crafts and techniques. Sometimes they go well and other times not so well but its always fun to try something new. Sometimes I try a new craft but it takes a few tries to get the hang of it.... like crocheting.

I was inspired to learn how to crochet from my sister in law, Ginger.   Ginger taught me how to crochet for the first time way back in 1999 when Graham and I were still dating.  I started 2 blankets then and both of them got put aside as life got busy after getting married, moving around with the military, and having kids.  I still have them unfinished in a bag. I always planned to finish them someday but had forgotten how to crochet.  

When we visited with Ginger in the summer of 2019, she gifted the kids and I with crocheted blankets she made for us.  She made Levi and Elena each their own blanket and for my blanket, she added a crocheted ruffle border to blanket she purchased. 

the kids blankets

My blanket from Ginger

Ginger explained that this is a quick way to personalize a blanket versus crocheting an entire blanket.  This inspired me to try crocheting again! It didnt seem quite so intimidating as crocheting an entire full sized blanket! Ginger had to teach me all over again since it had been 20 years since she taught me the first time! Luckily, she didnt mind and was very patient with me.  We got a small baby blanket and I chose some yarn to make a border.  She got me started and I wrote down all the instructions  to continue the blanket after we went our seperate ways again after vacation.   I worked on my little blanket here and there and finally finished it 6 months later.  Here's my first completed blanket!!

I was so proud of it, I ended up just keeping it for myself.  I use it often as a little lap blanket or put it around my shoulders when I'm reading.  

Fast forward another 6 months: During covid quarantine, Elena asked me if I could teach her how to make the crocheted ruffle border.  This was a little challenging because while Im right handed, Elena is left handed so I decided the best way to teach her was for both of us to make a blanket at the same time. I bought materials to make a blanket for my son and she picked a blanket and yarn for herself to go with her room decor.  I dug out my notes that I had written down while Ginger was teaching me on vacation and had to text her to confirm a few things that I had forgotten in just 6 months!! Then Elena and I started off making the baby blankets together.  Due to her being left handed, it was a frustrating start, but I encouraged her to stick with it and she got the hang of it quickly and was soon giving me tips!!!  She really is a natural at crocheting and I feel like she gets that from her Aunt Ginger!!   

                                                               Here is Elena's blanket:

Can you tell how proud she is?! She did such a great job and finished well before I did!  Then she was giving me tips on how to finish my blanket!! Here is my blanket that I made for Levi:

I havent crocheted since but now I can have Elena help me whenever Im ready for another project as she has continued to crochet. I will post some more of her projects soon.  

Thank you Aunt Ginger for teaching us how to crochet!! Sorry it took me 20 years to learn it!!

Thank you for reading my blog! Please contact me at bloxiegirl@yahoo.com with any questions.

Nicole

Many Birthday Cards!!

 Hi Friends,  since my last post I have made several homemade birthday cards for friends and family.  I really love making a personalized birthday card when I have the time. I try to pick a theme that has meaning for the recipient or their favorite colors etc.    Here are some of the birthday cards I've made in the last few months. 

This card uses the Forever Blossoms stamp set from Stampin Up and I used an embossing folder to create leaves on the light green paper (Soft Seafoam). This card is for a family member that loves flowers, espeically pink flowers.  I stamped the flowers, colored them, and then cut them out. 

This is a birthday card that I made for a customer. I used a weave style embossing folder for the background and the birds and flowers are carefully cut out.  This image is from Stampin Up's Free As a Bird set. 

This is another card I made for a customer for a young boy's birthday. This boy loves the LA Rams football team, so that is what inspired my design for this card. I dug into my older stamps for these football stamps. Some stamp sets I keep forever when I know I will always have a use for them.  

This card is for the same young man who also loves to fish.

This card was so fun to make.  This is a retired stamp set from Stampin Up called Follow Your Dreams. I purchased this specifically to make a card for my daughter. She loves positive sayings and dream catchers. Her room is pink and green so I used these colors so if she wanted to display this card in her room, it would match the decor in her room. I added a lot of bling to this card including pearls and gold embossing.  She really loved this card!

This is another retired stamp set from Stampin Up called Best Catch that I bought knowing I would get lots of use since we have so many friends and family who love to fish.  I used several different techniques in this card including the embossed layer for the background and coloring with marker blends for the water and the rainbow trout.  My dad came to visit us just before his birthday and we got to take him out on the water for some fishing fun so this card was perfect for him.  He loves to fish. 

and finally, this is another birthday card for my dad.  He loves horses even more than fishing. 

Hope you enjoyed all these birthday cards. Be sure to check out the Card Gallery Page for even more cards that I have not posted here.  If you have any questions about the products and techniques used for these cards, just let me know!

Thank you for reading my blog! Please contact me at bloxiegirl@yahoo.com with any questions.

Nicole

 

Foster Kitties Update

 Just wanted to update you on the foster kitties!!   Bear was the first one to leave for his furrever home, then we had Ruby and Leo for a while while I looked for their furrever homes. They were so cute together and loved each other so much so I knew I had to find good homes for them if I was going to seperate them.

After a few weeks, I was able to find a good home for Ruby (calico). One of my co-workers was looking for a cat to complete her new home! She came to pick up Ruby and they hit it off instantly!  Her kids renamed her Feather and sounds like she is having a wonderful time with her new family. I love getting updates!   

Not to worry, I found a great home for Leo as well!  That family is US!! Im sure you are not surprised! We just fell in love with this little guy. He's perfect mix of cuddliness and playfulness. We weren't sure how our 2 other cats would accept him but knew at least our dog would love him.    We moved him up into the house on Oct 17th and everything went great.  Our cat Sammy loved his new role as big brother.  Joey took longer to accept Leo but at least he kept his distance until he warmed up to Leo.  He's still not a fan but will tolerate him.   And as expected, Sunny loves Leo!

Leo eating with the big guys

blending in with the Halloween decorations

Sammy is very good big brother!

cuddle time

Sunny is a big mama

Happy kitty

We are all in love with Leo and so glad to have him as part of our family!

Thanks for reading my blog! Email me with any questions at bloxiegirl@yahoo.com

Nicole

World Of Good Masculine Birthday Card

 Happy Sunday Stamping Friends! Today I am sharing a masucline birthday card.  I love the World Of Good Bundle in the Annual Catalog.  Even though I would love to buy every stamp set in the catalog, reality is that I cant. So, as much as I like this bundle,  I do not have this stamp set or the dies.  But I DO have the designer series paper, World of Good DSP.  This is perfect because I can still use this theme with just the paper!  Here is what I made:

I cropped out each pattern with the die from Tasteful Labels Dies.  I glued them onto a layer of Basic Black cardstock with multipurpose liquid glue. This glue allow a little wiggle time before it dries so I can line the papers just so. Then I trimmed it all to 5 1/4 x 4 inches and matted it onto Cinnamon Cider cardbase.   The sentiment layer is Very Vanilla cardstock and the sentiment is from the Peaceful Moments Stamp Set. I inked it with Versamark ink and then heat embossed with Gold Emboss Powder. I adhered this layer with Stampin Dimensionals to give it a little pop which you can see in the close up below:

For the inside of the card, I added a layer of Very Vanilla and a small trim of one of the patterned papers. 

I love how this card turned out and I am so happy I can still create this worldly theme with just the paper and the other dies/stamps that I have on hand.  Its a pratical way of expanding your creative options without stretching the budget too much!

If you missed my last blog post, I shared a cute picture of the baby kitties that I am currently fostering.  Here is the picture I shared of them.  The little black kitty left this morning for his furrever home so I have 2 left now.  They are so fun and playful! 

Thank you for reading my blog! Please contact me at bloxiegirl@yahoo.com with any questions

Nicole

Birds & Branches Birthday Card

 Hello Stampin Friends!

I have a cute birthday card to share that I made for a friend who loves redbirds.  I used the Birds and Branches bundle.  While this bird is not a true redbird, I did add some Poppy Parade color to resemeble the redbirds. Here is the card I made:

The card base is Poppy Parade cardstock. The next layer is Whisper White embossed with the Tasteful Textiles 3D Embossing folder. Then I cut out the circle with leaves with the Birds & More dies.  The layer behind the circle is from the In Good Taste DSP.  The bird is stamped with Cinnamon Cider ink and then colored in with Poppy Parade Stampin Write Marker.  I cropped the bird out with the Birds & Mores dies. The flowers are stamped in Poppy Parade ink and cropped out with the Birds & Mores Dies.  I adhered the bird and flowers with Stampin Dimensionals to give them a little lift.  The flowers are embellished with Champagne rhinestones.   The sentiment is from Beautiful Autumn Stamp Set, inked with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and punched out with Banners Pick A Punch.  The sentiment banner is also propped up with Stampin Dimensionals. Here is a close up of the front:

For the inside of the card, I added a layer of Whisper White and stamped the sentiment in Poppy Parade ink. 

If you have been wondering why I havent posted as much recently, here is why!!!  I have been fostering these 3 cute kittens.  They are doing great and are so sweet and playful.  I have a large craft room/workout room where I am keeping them.  I have been getting distracted and playing with them when I am trying to make a card.  Also I am finding I have to put away my things when I'm done stamping!! But its well worth it!  They are 8 weeks old and will be ready to be adopted this weekend!

I hope you enjoyed the card and the pic of the kitties! If you have any questions, please be sure to comment or email me! 

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Thank you for reading my blog! Please contact me at bloxiegirl@yahoo.com with any questions.

Nicole

Stampin Up Camouflage Birthday Card

 Hope you are having a great weekend! Today I am sharing a masculine birthday card!  I made 2 of them, each a little different so I will show you both and let me know which one you like!  I used Stampin Up's Camouflage background stamp as the focal point and the sentiment comes from the Happiest of Birthdays stamp set.  Here's the first card:

This card is made with Crumb Cake cardstock for the base card, the next layer is Soft Suede cardstock, and the Camoflauge stamp is inked with Soft Suede and stamped onto Crumb Cake.  The sentiment is stamped with Soft Suede onto Crumb Cake and cut with a die from the Stitched Rectangles Dies. The ribbon is the new Embroidered Ribbon from the Aug-Dec Mini Catalog.   Here's another view of the card so you can see how the layers were adhered. 

The Soft Suede layer is adhered with Multipurpose Liquid Glue and the the camouflage layer is adhered with Stampin Dimensionals.  I made another card just like this but with slightly differerent colors and a different ribbon.  Here is the second version:

This card also has a base cardstock of Crumb Cake but this card is matted with Mossy Meadow cardstock and the the camouflage background and sentiment are inked with Mossy Meadow as well. The ribbon is from the All the Trimmings Ribbon Combo Pack in the Aug-Dec Mini Catalog.  Here is a picture of the inside:

I saved a scrap piece from cutting the layer on the front of the card to use on the inside on a layer of Very Vanilla cardstock. The sentiment is also from the Happiest of Birthdays stamp set.   This card was quick and easy to make and I plan to make several to have on hand for masculine birthday cards.  What do you think of these colors? I think next I will try pink! It would be a fun girls birthday card as well!

 

Thank you for reading my blog! Please contact me at bloxiegirl@yahoo.com with any questions.

Nicole

Stampin Up Jar of Flowers Birthday Card

 Hi Stampers! Hope you are having a good week and that school is going well for those of you with kids in the house! My son started high school in person yesterday and my daughter started her remote learning with her middle school yesterday as well.  Very different scenarios for them so its a little confusing but we are making it work! What else can we do?!  Now I am taking a break from the school craziness to share my latest card.   

It is a birthday card for a sweet friend using the Jar of Flowers stamp set. I enjoyed making this one because coloring the flowers was very relaxing; just what I needed this week. I got to use my new In Color Stampin Blends to color these flowers!! I love using the Stampin Blends, they are so easy to color with.   The design is inspired from Amy Koender's Inkin Krew Thursdays Blog Hop on 9/3/20.  You can see that here.  I really liked the sketch so I decided to give it a try!  Here is her sketch:

I started with a base card of Thick Whisper White cardstock. For right side panel, I used Flowers for Every Season DSP and a strip of Misty Moonlight cardstock cut out with the Ornate Borders Die. On top of that I used Whisper White Cardstock for the large left panel.  I stamped the jar image with Misty Moonlight ink, then the stems with Just Jade ink. I stamped the Just Jade on my grid paper first then on the white cardstock so that it would a ligher shade of Just Jade.  Then I stamped the flowers with Bumbleebee ink.  These stamps are photopolymer (clear) which really helps with aligning them together.    I used the darker shade of each Stampin Blend color to trace the outlines of the flowers and leaves and then used the lighter shade to fill it in (Just Jade, Misty Moonlight, and Magenta Madness).  For the yellow flowers, I used Bumblebee Stampin Write Marker for the outline and Daffodil Delight Stampin Write Marker for the inside.   Here is a close up of the coloring:

For the sentiment, I first cut Misty Moonlight cardstock with the second smallest rectangle of the Stitched So Sweetly Dies. Then I cut Whisper White to fit inside the stitched lines.  I used the "Happy Birthday" stamp from the Here's A Card Stamp Set with Magenta Madness ink.   I adhered the sentiment with Stampin Dimensionals to allow it to pop up above the jar.  The bow is  made with the blue and white twine from the Floweres for Every Season Ribbon Combo Pack.  This twine has a touch of silver in it, its so pretty!  The final step was to add 3 little green pieces from the Flowers for Every Season Gems.  I adhered the ribbon and gems with mini glue dots. 

For the inside, I kept it simple with just a strip of the same designer paper at the bottom of the card. 

It was fun trying to create a card from a design. I like how it challenges me to think differently. I usually want to center everything just so! 

Hope everyone has a great week! Keep hanging in there through whatever craziness you may going through and try to find some time to color or make a card; the creative time helps so much!  

Thank you for reading my blog! Please contact me at bloxiegirl@yahoo.com with any questions.

Nicole